ITV

Category: Movies

  • The Danish Girl to have Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman in lead

    MUMBAI: The Danish Girl, based on a novel by David Ebershoff novel will have Gwyneth Paltrow pitched opposite Nicole Kidman.


    The film tells the story of Danish painter Einar Wegener, played by Kidman, who was the first man to undergo a sex change operation in 1931.
    Paltrow will play Einar‘s wife Greta which was to be essayed by Charlize Theron earlier.


    The film being produced by Kidman and her partner Per Saari with Gail Mutrux, Linda Reisman and Anne Harrison, is being directed by Sweden‘s Tomas Alfredson, who had earlier made child vampire movie Let The Right One In.
     

  • Singapore’s Mega Media to co-finance Floating Life

    MUMBAI: Singapore‘s Mega Media is all set to co-finance Vietnam Media Corp for its upcoming drama The Immense Floating Life that is set to be one of Vietnam‘s biggest productions of 2010.


    Mega Media will provide 20 per cent of the financing for the film to be directed by Nguyen Phan Quang Binh. Mega media had earlier co-financed award-winning drama Song Of The Stork (2002).


    The Immense Floating Life is scheduled start shooting on 26 November. The film is based on Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu‘s short story Boundless Rice Field, that won this year‘s ASEAN Literature Prize.
     

  • Macerola is president and CEO of SODEC

    MUMBAI: Francois Macerola has been named president of Quebec‘s provincial government funding body Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC).


    Macerola joins Canada‘s largest public sector investor in film and TV after quitting Telefilm Canada where he was executive producer.


    His appointment follows a period of instability at SODEC after his predecessor, Jean-Guy Chaput, was engulfed in a controversy over excessive expensive, including a now infamous C$1,300 per night hotel room at Cannes.


    Macerola has a long history in cultural affairs in Canada, most significantly during his five year tenure as executive director of Telefilm Canada, which is considered one of the agency‘s high points.
     

  • Red Box Films in co-production deal with Passion Pictures

    MUMBAI: Red Box Films has entered into a co-production partnership deal with John Battsek‘s Passion Pictures.


    The first project to come out of the deal will be Marsh‘s next documentary that according to Red Box founder Simon Chinn, will be “classic James Marsh territory.”


    The untitled project, that is currently on the floor has been fully funded by BBC Films, the UK Film Council and Icon Distribution that will also handle the film‘s international sales. The film is likely to be completed next summer in time for an autumn release.


    Under the partnership, the two companies will concentrate on producing feature documentaries for theatrical release. Red Box will be based out of Passion Pictures‘ London office.
    The Passion slate currently includes films like How To Live Now and Miranda Bowen‘s Nambia-set ghost story Skeleton Coast.


    Said Battesk, who won an Oscar for Passion Pictures with Kevin Macdonald‘s feature documentary One Day In September in 2000, “The hope is that Simon and I, through our companies, will offer an obvious place for both international and domestic film-makers to come and get their films made in a collaborative way, as well as presenting ourselves as a team who financiers will have significant faith in.”


    Chinn added: “John and I have a similar sensibility about feature documentary making and we are using James‘s project to forge a strategic partnership in which we will share projects and work together on all our documentary output.


    “We are looking for stories that have the potential to work on the big screen not just aesthetically but also commercially. If we can find one or two big stories a year, that would be fantastic.”

  • Sanjay Ghodawat Group to invest Rs 1 bn in entertainment sector in 3 years

    MUMBAI: The Sanjay Ghodawat Group that recently collaborated with Percept Picture Company for Jail has extended its partnership with the company.
    The Group plans to invest Rs 1 billion in the entertainment sector over the next three years.


    Apart from Jail, the two companies will collaborate on films like Bum Bum Bhole directed by Priyadarshan and Chandrakant Kulkarni‘s Carry On Pandu. Both the films are expected to release in early 2010.


    Said Sanjay Ghodawat Group of Industries chairman Sanjay Ghodawat, “We have always taken pride in our new business ventures. Our foray into the entertainment space resonates the opportunity available and our quest to offer better and valued services to our customers. 


    “We foresee tremendous potential in the entertainment space and deem it perfect for reaching out to the masses. Our tie up with Percept Picture Company and association with Madhur Bhandarkar has been a great start to this venture.”


    Added Percept Picture Company joint managing director Shailendra Singh, “Percept has always focused on creating quality content and we are extremely pleased to have The Ghodawat Group partner us to create path-breaking content. This association marks the coming together of great talent from diverse fields.”
     

  • Shemaroo releases DVD of Faerie Tale Theatre

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has released DVDs of internationally-acclaimed Shelly Duvall‘s Faerie Tale Theatre.


    Produced by Lions Gate and Gaylord Productions Inc. and directed by the likes of Tim Burton, Peter Medak, Mark Cullingham, Eric Idle and Francis Ford Coppola, the 24 fairy tales series was originally telecast on Doordarshan in the 1980s and was well-received then and twenty years later, still continues to fascinate viewers.


    Declares Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada, “The USP of this series is that, while fairy tales are perceived to be available on home video in the animated format, appealing to kids, this live action theatre format of the Fairy Tales, will appeal to the youth and adults and rekindle the child in them, therefore making it an interesting watch for the old and the young. Age is no bar anymore for this Faerie Tale Theatre series.”


    These fairy tales feature some of the best-known stars in Hollywood like Robin Williams, Christopher Reeves, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Bridges, Carrie Fisher, Helen Mirren, Matthew Broderick, Anjelica Huston, Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Joan Collins, Vanessa Redgrave and Jeff Goldblum.


    While Season 1 of Faerie Tale Theatre, a 4 DVD set, contains eight fairy tales, Season 2 and Season 3 will have the balance 16 stories.


    The DVD costing Rs. 499 is available all over.

  • White Lightnin is best film at Mumbai Film Festival

    MUMBAI: The curtains of the 11th edition of Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) was wrung down yesterday but not before a glittering closing ceremony heralded the closure of the seven-day Festival.


    Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos received the International Lifetime Achievement award for giving the world some thought-provoking and visually appealing films.


    The evening saw the honouring of Amitabh Bachchan for completing 40 years in the film industry. Thanking the MFF for the honour, Bachchan said, “I am really grateful to the Indian film industry for tolerating me for so many years. I remember all the wonderful people who got associated with me.”


    Production house Navketan Films was also felicitated for completing 60 golden years in the film industry.


    Later the awards were announced.


    British film White Lightnin won the best film award in the ‘First Feature Films of Directors‘ category and annexed the Golden Gateway of India award. Director
    Dominic Murphy pocketed the cash prize of $ 50,000. Producers, Mike Downey and Sam Taylor collected a cash prize of $ 50,000.


    The Australia-Italy film La Pivellina (The Little One) was presented with the Silver Gateway of India award. The two directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel collected cash prize of $ 25,000 while a cash prize of $ 25,000 was handed over to producer Rainer Frimmel.


    The Best Director award was given to Adria‘n Biniez for the film Gigante-a Uruguay-Germany-Argentina-Netherlands film. Biniez collected the Silver Gateway of India award in the ‘First Feature Films of Directors‘ category.


    The Best Actress award was awarded to Paprika Steen for Applause – a Denmark film with she collecting the Silver Gateway of India award in the category.


    The Best Actor went to Edward Hogg for the film White Lightnin. He collected the
    the Silver Gateway of India award for in the category.


    The jury award for best cinematographer and best sound recordist was given to Mark Gyori and Gyorgy Kovacf respectively for Katalin Varga – a Romania-UK-Hungary film. They collected the Silver Gateway of India award for their respective categories.


    The jury headed by Paul Schrader had Irene Bignardi, Shaji N Karun, Vimukhti Jayasundara and Brillante Mendonza as its other members.


    MAMI Chairman Shyam Benegal and trustees Yash Copra, Jaya Bachchan, Amit Khanna, Amol Palekar along with festival jury members graced the occasion. Also present were Anil and Tina Ambani.


    Remarked Benegal, “This festival brought together some of the best cinematic talent from across the globe. We watched some very well-crafted films covering a range of thematics and issues.”


    The evening was hosted by Kunal Kohli and Shefali Shah while singers Anushka Manchanda and Kunal Ganjawala performed.
     

  • Neon Sign is MDA‘s first project under IFF funds

    MUMBAI: Singapore-based Media Development Authority (MDA) has announced a Singapore-China-Korea co-production, Neon Sign to be directed by Korea‘s Pil Gam-Sung. This is MDA‘s first project under its International Film Fund (IFF).


    Set in China‘s Yunnan province, the film is comedic road movie about a Korean pop idol who flees to China to escape the paparazzi following scandals at home.


    The film is being co-produced by Korea‘s Nabi Pictures and Singapore‘s Bang Productions with backing from Korea‘s CJ Entertainment, Beijing Polybona Film Distribution and support from the MDA.


    Launched at Cannes Film Festival, the IFF aims to provide Singapore-based production and post-production companies with the opportunity to co-produce, or executive produce films aimed at global markets with international partners.


    The fund plans to invest up to $3.6m (S$5m) per film in a slate of 17 to 20 projects including animation, live-action features and post-production projects.

  • IM Global rolls out theatrical arm

    MUMBAI: Fresh from the success of its micro-budget Paranormal Activity, IM Global unleashed its Octane genre label at AFM this week, kicking off with Brad Anderson thriller‘s The Vanishing On 7th Street.


    Former Showtime executive Catherine Quantschnigg will run the division which was formerly known as IM Global Home Entertainment but has been refocused to handle sub-$10m theatrical fare.


    Shooting of the film is now in progress on the Herrick Entertainment and Plum Pictures film that stars Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo.


    The film is the story of an apocalyptic horror that engulfs the world following a mysterious blackout and is produced by Norton Herrick, Celine Rattray and Tove Christensen.


    “We‘re finding that internationally the under $10m marketplace is being dominated even further by young male-orientated action, horror and fantasy product,” Quantschnigg said.


    Quantschnigg‘s films include Bitch Slap, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, My Name Is Bruce from the Dark Horse graphic novel stable and Joel Silver‘s Dungeons & Dragons 3 and 4.


    Meanwhile, IM Global will be fielding offers from buyers this week on Oren Peli‘s Paranormal Activity follow-up Area 51 that is expected to close a North American deal imminently.

  • Fortissimo Films in partnership with Korea’s CJ Entertainment

    MUMBAI: Fortissimo Films has entered into a strategic partnership with Korea‘s CJ Entertainment that covers co-production and library sales, and gives CJ a first-look deal for Fortissimo‘s upcoming titles.


    The wide-ranging deal, announced by Fortissimo chairman Michael J. Werner and CJ Entertainment CEO Katharine Kim promises to give Fortissimo a firmer foothold in Korea.


    In addition to the first-look deal for new titles, the partnership also enables CJ to exploit Fortissimo‘s library of more than 250 feature films across Korea‘s burgeoning new media platforms.


    CJ owns Korea‘s biggest cinema circuit, CJ CGV, while its affiliate CJ Media operates cable TV networks and sells movie titles to video-on-demand and IPTV.


    It is also said that the two companies said an agreement to co-develop, co-finance and co-produce a series of Asian-focused projects will be entered into in the near future.


    “This is a multi-faceted relationship that has great potential to enable a wider range of titles from Fortissimo to be released in Korea,” said Werner. Although South Korea has some of the world‘s most advanced new media platforms, in the past few years it has become a tough market for theatrical art house releases.


    However CJ CGV is attempting to expand this space by establishing a specialty films team and expanding its “Movie Collage” art house circuit.